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Tuesday, 24 July 2012

The second of Adam's UK TV promo performances of NCOE, this one's for a children's music programme from the Beeb. It makes a very refreshing change to see such a young audience all bopping along to him with much enthusiasm.

Adam uses session musicians as his usual band didn't make the trip over the pond. As usual he's looking fine as an understated rocker, no bulging risqué trouser situations and only minimal makeup, which looks great in the close-ups. As far as the vocal goes, it's not as ambitiously acrobatic as some of the other NCOEs but I think it's the best so far of all the TV shows being pretty much pitch-perfect. Performance-wise, he really gets the crowd jumping up and down with his energy, fist-pumps and clapping. I could do without so many shots of the tall presenters showing off their moves and blocking the view of the smaller kiddies behind them but overall, delightful.

It seems like this sunny daytime radio concert happened such a long time ago. Adam was without Isaac, his usual drummer, but the rest of the band and backing singers were there. The visual presentation - Adam's cool daytime rocker look with mirrored sunglasses and the staging - is very reminiscent of his Moscow concert.

The set commences with a sassy and energetic Trespassing followed by Kickin' In, which I'm still finding a but repetitive. There are a few close-ups of Adam's sunglasses which are great for seeing the reflection of the crowd. The shades come off at the end of Shady to a loud cheer, I guess because we need to see his eyes to make that all-important connection, especially for the next song, a stirring WWFM.

Naked love brings the tempo back up with a singalong, which I thing should be topped off by a grand finish instead of petering out, but I guess I'm starting to sound like a broken record. IIHY follows and I'm guessing Adam has problems finding his pitch as he doesn't actually start singing until quite a way into the song. The set gets a bit emo with Broken English and some impressive vocals, though I think there are parts of the guitar solo that sound a bit off. Chokehold is beautifully dramatic.

There's a little bit of banter before another change in mood, where Adam uses jetlag as an euphemism for feeling the effects of the weed wafting in from the crowd. A fun smiley NCOE gives way to a tribute to Donna Summer with a performance of Hot Stuff. It's a wonderful and unusual treat for us all to hear a new song, a classic with the twist being Adam's fantastic vocals over it. It leads straight into Cuckoo with band intros where Adam gets all potty-mouthed with his mo-fos. It ends on a high with an almighty note plus trademark run.